Archangel's Blade

I've turned in Archangel's Blade! I loved seeing beneath the surface of Dmitri, dark, dangerous creature that he is, and learning about the (fascinating) woman strong enough to take him on. I can't wait to share their story with you all!

For now, here's the backcover blurb! Excerpt to come a little later.

ARCHANGEL'S BLADE

September 2011

Berkley Sensation

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh is back in the shadows of a deadly, beautiful world where angels rule, vampires serve, and one female hunter must crawl out of the darkness to survive…

The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past…but Dmitri’s need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel’s right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality…the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting…and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more…

Friday Book Club

It's time to talk books! 

I want to mention Julie James' A Lot Like Love, which has just been released. I was lucky enough to read it early, and absolutely loved it! Julie writes the most wonderful characters. If you like contemporary romance, definitely check this one out.

Here's the blurb. You can read an excerpt on Julie's website.

The FBI wants her cooperation.

As the daughter of a billionaire and the owner of the city’s top wine store, Jordan Rhodes is invited to the most exclusive parties in Chicago. But there’s only one party the FBI wants to crash: the charity fundraiser of a famous restaurateur, who also happens to launder money for the mob. In exchange for her brother’s release from prison, Jordan is going to be there—with a date supplied by the Bureau.

Agent McCall just wants her.

As the top undercover agent in Chicago, Nick McCall has one rule: never get personal. This “date” with Jordan Rhodes is merely an assignment—one they’re both determined to pull off even if they can’t be together for five minutes before the sarcasm and sparks begin to fly. But when Nick’s investigation is compromised, he and Jordan have no choice but to pretend they’re a couple, and what starts out as a simple assignment begins to feel a lot like something more. .

Okay, your turn! What are you reading and loving this week?

Kiss of Snow ARC Contest

Contest now closed.

Oooh, pretty!!!!

If you'd like to go in the random draw to win one of five Advanced Reading/Review Copies of Kiss of Snow, send an e-mail to naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom with "Kiss of Snow ARC Contest" in the subject line by by 7pm Thursday March 10th, 2011, New Zealand time.

Edited to add: Please follow the correct format for entry re the subject line, so your e-mail goes into the right in-box. Thanks!

(Your e-mail will only be used to contact you should you win.)

Since these are Advanced Reading/Review Copies, if you win, I'd ask that you please post a review somewhere, on or before the release date (May 31st, 2011) - on a blog, on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads...it's up to you, but it would be much appreciated if you'd post your thoughts somewhere. The contents of the review are, of course, totally up to you, but I would request that you not share any major spoilers until after the book is out.

A note about the ARC - it's substantially the same as the final book, but since ARCs are printed prior to the final round of edits, there are some errors in the text that aren't in the final book. 

I'll give each winner 48 hours to respond to the email indicating they've won. If I don't hear back within that time, I'll redraw. By entering, you give me permission to post your name on the blog should you win.

The fine print: Contest is open internationally. One entry per household. No purchase necessary to enter. Winner will be chosen randomly using random.org and his or her name(s) posted on this blog on Saturday, March 12th, 2011. Void where prohibited.

Contest now closed.

Excerpts

I'm over at Oddshots today, talking about excerpts. Do you like being teased? Or do you prefer to avoid temptation? Come join in the discussion. :-)

Walker Lauren

For all you Walker fans who've been asking me when you get to find out more about him. :-)

Scene from Lara's Point of View

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Her voice came out a little husky to her own ears, but no one else seemed to notice.

Walker’s pale green eyes held hers for a long, tense second. “I was passing by when I glimpsed these two.” His gaze shifted over her shoulder. “I’ll carry it back.”

“We need to speak—bring the kids for dinner.” Judd melted away into the forest so fast, Lara didn’t even manage to turn around in time.

“Lara, it hurts.” It was an almost apologetic voice.

Wrenching away the suffocating web of want and anger and hurt that had wrapped around her, she went to her knees. “Let me see, sweetheart,” she said, checking first Brace, then Joshua.

“Hold still for a second.” Using the pressure injector, she gave them each a shot of painkiller.

She was vividly conscious of Walker hunkering down beside her, his body big, the scent of him as cool and reserved at the man himself. As she worked, he spoke to Joshua and Brace. Whatever they’d done to get into trouble, the boys’ wolves relaxed at once under his attention. Lara only wished her own wolf wasn’t so hypersensitive to his presence, until its fur rubbed up against the inside of her skin—but sensitivity aside, the wolf maintained a wary distance. Both parts of her had learned their lesson when it came to Walker Lauren.

Excerpted from Kiss of Snow
Copyright (c) 2011 by Nalini Singh

Friday Book Club

Time to talk books. What are you reading and enjoying this week?

Earthquake

I think all of you will have heard by now of the devastating quake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, yesterday lunchtime.

I wanted to share this newspaper link with you that has information about essential services, including who to call if you're searching for information about friends/family members. There's also information about how to make donations to help the victims of the quake.

If you're on Twitter, you can follow the #eqnz and #Chch hashtags for updated news.

Please keep the people of Christchurch in your thoughts.

Photos!

I just posted some photos from the Chinese Lantern Festival over at Oddshots, so swing by and have a look.

Isn't this guy adorable?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. :-)

Friday Book Club

The Friday Book Club is now open! What are you reading and loving this week?

Writing

I've handed in the final proofs of Kiss of Snow! According to the countdown widget on the sidebar, it's only 102 days till release day - I'm so looking forward to it!

I'll have more small excerpts for you a little later - I have to ration them out. Finding non-spoilery sections is tough.

Today, it's back to Archangel's Blade. I can't wait to dive back into the book! I should have a backcover blurb to share very soon.

Hope you're all having a good week. Tell me what're up to. :-)

Kiss of Snow Banner

Look up above this post to see the banner! If you'd like to grab it, the code is available on this page of my website (scroll to the bottom). We've also got a vertical banner, so take your pick!

Friday Book Club

The Friday Book Club is now open! What are you reading and loving lately?

I'm reading a (fantabulous) book you might've heard of called Kiss of Snow. :D

Archangel's Consort - UK, Australia & NZ release!

Archangel's Consort releases today, Feb 10th, in the UK, Australia and New Zealand! I hope you all enjoy the book!


I was thinking to open a spoiler thread for Archangel's Consort on the blog in around one and a half, two weeks time. Does that work for everyone?

A little Kiss

Don't say I don't listen to you all. Here's a small glimpse of Kiss of Snow. I can't promise something every week, but there will be more kisses. ;-)

Part of a conversation between Ben and Hawke

“Didja really put Sinna in jail?”

Hawke bit the inside of his cheek. “Yep.”

Brown eyes the same dark shade as his mother’s, turned wolf-amber in shock. “How come?”

“She didn’t follow the rules.”

Ben thought about it for a second, lines wrinkling up that baby-smooth forehead. “Is it like time-out for grown-ups?”

“Yep.”

“Oh.” A decisive nod. “I’ll tell Marlee.”

Copyright (c) 2011 by Nalini Singh

New Website

The new website is now live! Let us know if something's not working. Hope you all like the site!

Edited to add: If you're having trouble seeing the website, try clearing your cache/cookies. You might still have the previous homepage saved.

(Just had a tweet that the Angels' Pawn page link is broken - we'll fix!)

UK, Australia & NZ Kindle Readers

The Kindle pre-order link for Archangel's Consort is now up! So is the Mine to Possess Kindle pre-order link. Both will be available February 10th.

And Caressed By Ice is now available on Kindle. Judd! :-)

Edited to add: The above links are to Amazon UK. If they don't work for you, these links to the U.S. Amazon site should. (Thanks to Kerry for the heads-up).

Archangel's Consort
Mine to Possess
Caressed By Ice

NB: Just a reminder that there is another writer also now publishing under the name Nalini Singh on Kindle, so please always double-check my website to make sure I'm the author before you buy anything thinking it's by me. Or you can email me to check (nalinisinghwritesATgmailDOTcom). :-)

Awesome News!! & Friday Book Club

Archangel's Consort has hit the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists! Thank you for the support everyone!

Onto the (very happy) Friday Book Club! What are you reading and loving at the moment?

Novella News

I have some great news! I'm going to be writing two more Psy/Changeling novellas and a Guild Hunter novella!

I haven't yet finalized who the stories will be about, but I'm thinking a certain "bruiser" of an angel for the GH novella. His heroine? She's wonderful and I'm guessing you know her identity. :-)

One of the Psy/Changeling novellas I'm considering is a little bit of a spoiler for Kiss of Snow*, so can't announce that yet. There are so many characters I would love to write about! Choices, choices!

I'm curious - which characters (from either series) would you like to see in a novella?

*I'm keeping a seeeeeeeecrit about the book. Okay, many seeeeeeeecrits. Now I'm going to run away before you start pelting me with tomatoes.

Good News & Friends Releases

Two pieces of awesome news:

Kiss of Snow has been listed as one of the Top 10 Spring Romances by Publishers Weekly!! (I was trying to wait to post this news closer to the release date, but I had to share.)

And Bonds of Justice has been listed as one of the Thirteen Best Romances of 2010 by The Kansas City Public Library!

Woohoo!!

_______________

A couple of my writing buds have books out this week that I wanted to tell you about.

Olivia Gates is a lovely author who I did some crazy dancing with last RWA. ;-) She's based in Egypt and given the current turmoil, unable to get the word out about her new release, so her friends are helping to spread the word.

To Tempt a Sheikh by Olivia Gates

He rescued hostage Talia Burke from his royal family's rival tribe and swept her into his strong embrace. But Prince Harres Aal Shalaan soon discovered there was more to the brave beauty than he knew. Talia held information vital to protecting his beloved kingdom…and she had every reason not to trust him.

Marooned together at a desert oasis, Talia couldn't resist Harres. Yet even as his sizzling seduction entranced her, his loyalty to his family and country would always make them enemies. Falling for the sheikh would be her heart's greatest mistake…but she feared it was already too late….

Link to Olivia's Website

The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton (a.k.a. the book with the lickalicious cover)

Jaci writes wonderful sexy contemporary romances and this one's no exception. Check out the blurb below and follow the link to Jaci's site to read an excerpt!

Football pro Mick Riley is an all-star, both on the field and in the bedroom. But a sexy, determinedly single mom just might be the one to throw him off his game…

For years Mick has been taking full advantage of the life available to a pro athlete: fame, fortune, and a different girl in every city. But when he meets and beds confident, beautiful event planner Tara Lincoln, he wants much more than the typical one-night stand. Too bad Tara’s not interested in getting to know football’s most notorious playboy any better.

As the single mother of a teenage son, the last thing Tara needs is the jet-set lifestyle of Mick Riley; even though their steamy and passionate one-night stand was unforgettable. Tara’s life is complicated enough without being thrust into the spotlight as Mick’s latest girl du jour. Tara played the game of love once and lost big, and she doesn’t intend to put herself out there again, especially with a heartbreaker like Mick.

But when Mick sets his mind to win, nothing will stop him. And he has the perfect play in mind.

Link to Jaci's Website

Are you excited about any of the new releases this week, or have some good news? Share!

Follow me...

...to Heart to Heart: The BN Romance blog, where I have a guest post up titled "A Fascination with Flight."

See you there! :)